Annual Easter Egg Hunt time is here – Saturday, April 15
St. Johns Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the St. Johns Lioness Club will be held on Saturday, April 15th at 1:00 p.m. at the St. Johns City Park. An alarm will sound to start the egg hunt.
Age groups are 3-4; 5-6; 7-8; 9-10. Special eggs will be given out by bunny helpers for those under 3.
Bring a camera; the Easter Bunny will be available for pictures. There will also be face painting, live bunny rabbits and balloon animal making.
This event is free to the public. Please make sure you thank the St. Johns Lioness Club for all of their hard work to make this event happen.
SJMS to present The Lion King, Jr. – April 21-23
The Lion King Jr. Rehearsal
by Maralyn Fink
On Tuesday afternoon I stopped into the St. Johns High School Auditorium to watch the Middle School students rehearse for their upcoming play on April 21, 22 and 23.
Watching rehearsal is an interesting thing as you watch the scenes and moving the sets around. This was not a dress rehearsal per say, but the needed props were used.
This is the first year that the Middle School play will be held at the High School. There are 91 students involved in the production.
The directors are Josh Heethuis, Nichole Eller, Jared Fromson and Dawn Flynn.
Performance times are as follows:
Friday, April 21, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 22, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 22, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 23, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased online at sjdrama.ludustickets.com.
RESA Senior receives award
Career Connections Senior student Richele Kniff is a proud recipient of the Michigan 2017 Breaking Traditions Award. The award recognizes outstanding students who are pursuing education and training in a career field that is non-traditional for their gender.
Richele’s instructor, Brad Byerle who is pictured with her, nominated Richele for this award.
Mountain Town Brass performs April 23 at Wilson Center
Mid-Michigan’s newest British-style brass band, the Mountain Town Brass, performs for local audiences in an April 23 concert, “Hands Across the Sea,” at the historic Wilson Center Auditorium in St. Johns. The music begins at 7 p.m.
Formed in 2016, Mountain Town Brass is an elite brass ensemble in the virtuosic British brass band tradition that successfully blends impeccable musical virtuosity with an enjoyable audience-friendly ambience. Members of the band are all exceptional brass players from university, professional and community circles and virtually come from every corner of the state. The band is based in Mt. Pleasant.
“Mountain Town Brass is an amazing brass band,” says Bill Tennant, concert coordinator. “The band has accomplished a lot in the short time that they’ve been together. The incredible literature they are performing and the level of playing is exceptional. I feel honored that they are bringing their spring concert to St. Johns for us to enjoy.”
Travis Scott, a D.M.A. student at Michigan State University, conducts Mountain Town Brass. He holds degrees from the University of Akron and the University of North Texas and is the instructor of tuba and euphonium at the University of Windsor.
“We are featuring two major ‘firsts’: Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” arranged for brass, which represents America’s first classical hit, and Fletcher Henderson’s “Labour and Love” which was the first original piece used at the U.K. National Band Contest in 1913.” The concert also includes works by Wagner, Bizet and others along with several soloists.
“Sunday’s concert will inform, delight and entertain audience members of all ages,” Tennant says.
There is no admission for the concert, but donations will be accepted to help defray concert costs and help towards the ongoing Wilson Center Auditorium renovation project. The auditorium is located at 101 W. Cass St. near downtown St. Johns, just south of the courthouse.
Mint City Singers – Sunday, April 30
The Mint City Singers presents A Joyful Day of Singing, their spring concert on Sunday, April 30 at 4:00 pm.
The concert will be held at the First United Methodist Church, 200 E State Street, in St. Johns. It will include music from Disney’s animated movies, Beauty and the Beast title song, The Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas and A Whole New World from Aladdin. Other familiar songs include New York, New York, Someone to Watch Over Me, and Summertime. The choir also will present some traditional choral anthems.
The Mint City Singers is directed by Ellen Hoard and accompanied by Jeff Richards. Free-will donations would be appreciated and refreshments will be served. This is a wonderful family friendly event.
For more information please call 989-233-5775.
S’Moves Alive! 2017 offers unique music program – April 21, 22
S’Moves Alive! 2017 is a mix of dance, music and song that will stimulate all the senses in a series of fun, short, creative presentations April 21-22 at Central United Methodist Church across from the Michigan Capital Building.
Dancers Roberta Otten and John MacDonald perform solos and duets to music in the pop, classical, folk, and abstract music genres. The wide variety of performances pieces include “Being,” an eclectic solo composition of abstract movement, video imagery, sound and light while a duet, “Celestial Energies,” creates a mysterious environment with movement, music and special lighting.
In addition to Otten and MacDonald, a pair of musicians are part of this year’s S’Moves Alive 2017 program. Clarinetist Bill Tennant will accompany several dances and perform an original composition. A special guest appearance by Spitzer Space Telescope presents a unique style of folk music and sea shanties with fiddle, guitar and voice.
“Our upcoming S’Moves Alive! 2017 program has to be one of the most diverse programs we’ve ever
done,” Otten says. “Having live music for the first time – the original clarinet and wonderful addition of Spitzer Space Telescope – makes this year’s program something truly special.”
Otten and Rosemary Edgar dreamed up S’Moves Alive in 2004. The veteran performers decided to create a show and recruited LCC students and guests to present a program of dance, story and song as a fundraiser for the LCC Dance Department. Edgar performed with S’Moves Alive! until 2009. MacDonald joined the group in 2005.
This year’s program is the 11th concert. Previous shows have been presented in senior assisted living centers in Holland, East Lansing and Lansing.
Otten has performed and taught dance in the Lansing area for over 30 years. Her choreography appeared in many LCC theatre and dance productions, Happendance, Riverwalk Theatre, and Sunsets with Shakespeare. In addition to several nominations she received the Lansing City Pulse Pulsar Choreography Award in 2006 for her work in “The Many Deaths of Shakespeare” at LCC.
MacDonald has been a physician in St. Johns since 1981. He began performing modern dance in college, but put it aside in pursuit of his medical career. He rediscovered his passion for dance in the past 15 years and really enjoys the creative challenge. “I enjoy working with movement which can be inspiring and intellectually stimulating.”
Tennant is a retired music teacher from St. Johns. He taught public school music for 36 years and has written several compositions including an opera that was performed on a program at Michigan State University. He continues to serve his community in a number of ways keeping the performing arts well and alive in the mid-Michigan area.
Spitzer Space Telescope is currently based in Chicago. This artist and musician presents his unique style of folk music and sea shanties with fiddle, guitar and voice. His current tour will include travel to the East Coast and Scotland. For detailed information visit www.sstmusic.com
S’Moves Alive! 2017 begins at 7:30 p.m., both nights. There is no admission charge. Donations will be accepted.
15th Annual Springtime Community Festival – May 13
On Saturday, May 13th the Clinton County Chamber of Commerce will hold its 15th Annual Springtime Community Festival. Included in the festival is a Craft Show with over 60 vendors, a Touch a Truck, lunch, free kids crafts and business and non-profit vendor booths.
The day starts out with treat bags given out to the first 50 adults that attend at 9:00 a.m. Then an additional 50 bags will be given out to adults that arrive at 1:00 p.m. Everyone attending also will have the opportunity to register for free door prizes that will be given away throughout the day. You need not be present to win when your name is drawn. Finally, every time you make a purchase from a vendor between 1:00-2:30 p.m. you will get your name entered into a drawing to win $100 in gift cards.
The prizes given out throughout the day will not be just for adults. There will be prizes like scooters and bikes given out to children. And children can make free crafts throughout the day and experience all the great vehicles in the parking lot.
Kids of all ages can experience Body Bubbles at the festival. This is preparation for their attendance at the 2017 St. Johns Mint Festival. Lunch from the Clinton County Senior Center will include BBQ Pork Sandwiches, Nachos and Hotdogs.
The 15th Annual Springtime Community Festival will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 14 in the CC RESA Building across from McDonalds at 1013 S US 27 in St. Johns. The event is sponsored by the Clinton County Chamber of Commerce, along with Sparrow Clinton Hospital of St. Johns.
If you have any questions about the event, call the Chamber at 989-224-7248 or email them at ccchamber@4wbi.net.